Gandhi’s absence in the second season of Clone High is explained by the creators of the show. Picking up two decades after the first season concluded, the second season of Clone High premiered on streaming service Max with two episodes on May 23. The central animated clones, including Abe, Joan, JFK and Cleo, are unfrozen and have to adapt to the changing social landscape, and there are now newer clones. However, there is a noted absence, as Gandhi remains frozen.
In an interview with ET Canada, co-creators Christopher Miller and Phil Lord talked about why Gandhi is absent from the second season of Clone High. The duo, who created the animated program with Bill Lawrence, explained that the decision to exclude the Gandhi character was due to a desire to expand and evolve the story. Lord likens the absence to how the teen dramas that Clone High parodies sometimes abruptly drop characters. Read their responses below:
“The show has to evolve and grow from season to season. It happens in those teen dramas in the first place. Like Jason Street, which is a huge part of “Friday Night Lights.” And then, suddenly, he’s in college. So, we wanted to treat it like this. It’s a way to shake up the set of characters. We knew Abe would have to find a new friend and we tried to make a virtue of that [Gandhi] would have remained frozen. And I think he does a great job of creating a problem for Abe to solve.”
“There is a Gandhi-sized void to fill. Confucius is definitely also a character who has a lot to prove, as a much revered clone parent and tries perhaps too much. Frida also has a cooler, more relaxed version of that Gandhi energy.”
The original Clone High received criticism for its depiction and inclusion of Gandhi. On the 55th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination on January 30, 2003, some 150 protesters gathered in New Delhi and vowed to go on hunger strike in response to Clone High. Among the protesters were members of parliament and Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi.
MTV issued an apology, which stated in part that Clone High was intended for American audiences and that they regret the offense caused. Miller later mentioned that while network executives liked the animated series, they asked for future episodes to take place without Gandhi’s character. The controversy, coupled with the low ratings, was reported to have contributed to the show’s initial cancellation.
There are many ways the Clone High reprise adjusts to the changes of the last few decades. One of the biggest is that the Cleopatra clone is now voiced by Mitra Jouhari instead of Christa Miller. The change comes alongside the introduction of newer characters, with Miller voicing a newer character and “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri voicing a character based on Harriet Tubman. So far, the changes haven’t caused any ill effects and the show is still as unique and entertaining as it was before.
